Savior
by Arashi Uzumaki-Namikaze
Summary: The final battle over, a hero vanishes into the void beyond death only to find himself given a second chance.  Pairings undecided.  Definitely though: Mina/Kushi, and other pairings of that generation.  naruto is quite confused.  Rise, Destined Child!


A/N: This story is my very first attempt at FanFiction. I have _never_ had a storyline that I planned out save for one other, and I'll have to write this one first since it is set in the same universe (yes, I do plan on finishing Lightning and Whirlpool, just not yet since I need to characterize their older selves). If I know what power they're reaching at the end, it's easier to characterize them. It's a long and very messed up explanation but I have another plot bunny, the one that nearly caused me to fall in love (I say nearly) with the 4th, and gain far more sympathy for both of them.

I would also like to point out that I am not intending to copy anyone's work in any way, shape or form. I think this is a possibility and MY version of Naruto will be very different than canon. It's a long story and if you want the summary, well, it will be given when he finally reveals everything that happened to him to his parents. This fic is rated T for a reason. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT A TEENAGER. Thank you.

Thanks to everyone with an AU of Naruto, because I've read so many fanfics they have inspired me. I'd also like to shout-out to a few authors whose work have inspired me. Reaper Nanashi. I _love_ the drama in Door Number Two and its rewrite, Vis à Vis. Also, _many thanks_ to Mari Falcon, author of If Only, Belly of the Beast, and Rescue Me. If Only is what led me to gain the idea that this fic is based on. _Thank you_.

Please don't get angry if this fic is not updated at a set rate. If I do that I will end up in a panic (it happens over small things related to school or my social life at certain times, and I'd rather avoid another one over writing). Writing is one of the two ways I've found that will relax me without causing me to become exceedingly bored. I am, as my author's page states, very busy. I am on the school crew team (this is rowing) and I normally come home at 6:30pm, happy, but exhausted.

I apologize to anyone who believes I am stealing their idea. This is one that came to me late one night and hasn't left me alone since (it's been a week, normally they go away after a day). Critics. Please do not criticize the storyline. This is counter-productive and while it is a good way to vent, you're just making the poor author feel bad. Flamers, read the above. I am not going to reply to any reviews that I don't understand or to flames. I will not mention your names in the fic, as I can't be angry with you, but please, criticize something like my writing style.

One other thing I would like to add: If I misuse a grammatical symbol, please point it out to me. I am still new to writing and would like to know if I make a mistake. If this formatting is weird, I apologize. The software it was written in is a birthday present I _love _so far.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, because my name is not Masashi Kishimoto. I do, however, own any OCs that pop up during the story, and the idea for Naruto's powers and status are my own.

With that said, I welcome you to the fanfic, Savior!

**Prologue: The Death of a Hero**

Naruto closed his eyes. At long last, it was finally over. It had taken many years to end it, but now he lay on the ground, able to rest at last. He smiled softly, remembering all those who had fought to the end.  
_'Lee, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei…thank you…'_ he was weary of living. Nineteen years old, Rokudaime Hokage of his own village and the Kage of the Shinobi Nations after being elected as such, to his surprise, at the Kage Summit when he was fourteen. He'd lead the Five Nations and the smaller ones against the Akatsuki and Taki, who had sided with the missing-nins, for five years. He was so tired. A nineteen-year-old should not feel this tired.

And yet he did. He smiled up to the sky, feeling the rain that started up on the summer's day. His entire torso was missing. Closing his eyes, he smiled up at the sky, and whispered his last words _"I'm coming home, mother, father, please wait for me."_

With those final words, the Kage of the Shinobi Nations and the Destined Child of Prophecy finally closed his eyes, as black overtook his vision.

Then a golden light flashed behind his eyelids and he fought to open them. Another yellow-golden flash and he felt a jerk at his navel before everything went black.

—

Minato found his son unconscious in the training field behind their house. This wasn't good. Naruto wasn't incredibly strong, but he wasn't weak either. The graduation exam for his class had been only yesterday and he was training for the rest of the time, or should have been.

His wife was inside, entertaining Naruto's younger twin siblings Arashi and Keimei Namikaze. He didn't want to upset her, but he knew Kyoko, Naruto's twin sister, would notice soon enough that her brother was unconscious.

Surely enough a yell sounded "MOM, I CAN'T FEEL HIM!"

Minato froze. If Kyoko couldn't feel him… Quickly the kage moved to his son's side and checked for a pulse. Then he saw blood beginning to soak the orange jacket of the jumpsuit his son absolutely loved. _'Naruto!'_ he thought, and picking up the unconscious boy, he used the Hiraishin without thinking.

They landed in the hospital in the emergency wing.

"NEE-CHAN! I NEED MEDICAL HELP AND I NEED IT _NOW_!" yelled Minato, getting the attention of every medic within about three rooms of him.

Tsunade came running in, her long blond hair tied back in two pigtails behind her head as Minato surveyed her hazel eyes. She looked from his frantic expression to Naruto "What happened? Did he over-exert himself?"

Minato shook his head "no, Kyoko can't feel him either." She traded a look of absolute horror and shock with him as he thought _'but that doesn't make any sense, unless Naruto is already dead…'_

Tsunade extended her hands and with her help, Minato laid his unconscious son down on the hospital bed. He smiled down at the seemingly sleeping boy, before Tsunade got to work on him. As she brought her hands down on his chest, using her chakra to make her hands glow a dark green color, she asked "How did you find him?"

'_This also bugs me,'_ Minato thought, recounting the exact place he had found Naruto and what had happened. It disturbed the kage that he hadn't sensed his son's approach at all, since it should have taken him less than a second. "I don't know what to do, nee-chan. Please, what happened to my son?"

Tsunade shook her head. Minato felt a gaping hole open in his chest as he realized "He's gone then?" whispered the kage in a half-broken voice, not daring to hope otherwise _'No…'_

She sighed "His vitals are good but if he doesn't wake soon, he'll die. You did the right thing in bringing him in, Minato-otoutou. He's got a bad case of chakra exhaustion."

Minato watched his son's labored breathing on the hospital bed as Tsunade did everything she could for the blond boy. Naruto was like a bundle of sunshine on the days he didn't feel angry. Minato recounted everything he knew about his son, to pass the time while Tsunade put in an IV drip, connecting it to Naruto's left wrist, and gave him an oxygen mask to ensure he stayed breathing.

Naruto had been one of the quieter children growing up at first, always overshadowed by his sister. He was not the dobe of his graduating class, but he had grown up with little to no attention, because he preferred to fade into the background. Minato felt the old ache open in his chest again, remembering how drawn he'd been during Naruto's first five years of life. He'd been barely able to help his wife take care of their many children and hold the job of Hokage. It had been hell until he'd asked Tsunade, his onee-chan in spirit to step in as Hokage. She had become the Godaime and Minato was able to give his family the attention they needed, including his son, but the damage had been done. His sister was a prodigy child and overshadowed everything Naruto did with her own genius. His younger siblings loved him all the same, but Naruto seemed more fit for civilian life until his father had become more available.

Minato had retaken the Hokage position when Naruto was ten, stating that he was going insane at home and needed to do something. The civilian/Jounin life was almost too boring for him. Tsunade understood, and wanting to remain head medic, she had stepped down and handed him the hat, telling the village that she had only taken the position because it was for her little brother. That had shocked them. Contrary to popular belief, during his absence from the office Minato had not gotten any weaker. He had become stronger, if that was at all possible, and his limits with Hiraishin knew nearly no bounds.

Looking over at his son, he sighed. _'When did things get so messed up? I love my family, but even so, my life seems to throw curve balls at me, using them,'_ Naruto had been attacked by someone, or some_thing_ because Minato was his father. He knew this to be fact as he was walking around constantly with a target on his back. After all, being the son of the Kiiroi Senkou and Yondaime Hokage, and his wife the Aka No Shi, it was easy to see where assassins would get a good bounty off of killing him, and there were many enemies of Minato's who would love to take his son's head.

Naruto was breathing evenly, with the help of the oxygen mask but it wasn't enough to assuage the guilt he felt. It was his fault his son was in this condition. (A/N: Yondaime sure likes to blame himself huh? Don't worry, he won't be depressed when he finds out the real reason Naruto ended up like this)

Minato buried his head in his hands. This was getting him nowhere, fast. In a swirl of chakra behind him he felt his wife and the rest of his family arrive.

Kushina rushed to his side "Minato, what happened? Kyoko would only say that she could no longer feel Naruto, and that was all, before she started screaming! Something about a Juubi, a statue, and 'no, you can't die when we just won'."

Looking over at the unconscious near mini-Kushina in her arms, he blinked at her before calling "ONEE-CHAN!"

Tsunade came running, and seeing Kyoko's condition, had Minato and Kushina change her into a hospital gown, hooked her up to an IV, and put her on an oxygen mask next to her brother. Then she noticed Naruto's hand reach out as if he wanted to take Kyoko's, and his twin was moaning in pain while doing the same thing. She pushed the beds close enough together that the two could join hands, unaware of what had really happened.

Minato sat down on a chair next to Naruto's bed "This is my fault…" he said softly "I have so many enemies, and if any _one_ of them got close to Kyoko or Naruto…"

Kushina shook his shoulders "Stop that. All you're going to do is frighten the other children. I have all of them with me, by the way."

Minato had barely enough time to register what she said before seven children, half with blond hair and the other half with red, pushed their way past him and crowded around the hospital beds housing Naruto and Kyoko.

Thinking about it, he could place each of them. His eldest were like miniatures of their parents, with Naruto looking like a near carbon-copy of Minato himself when he was younger, and Kyoko looking like a near carbon-copy of her mother when she was younger, only her hair, like her twin's, was blond. The two had a unique bond, and neither of them spoke much about it unless the other was in big trouble. Both Naruto and Kyoko were twelve.

Then came his next eldest, twins _again. _Arashi Namikaze had spiky red hair in the same style his father's had been at his age and Minato's sharp blue eyes and face shape. Unlike his sister, he was loud and had no problems in Ninjutsu. His twin sister, Keimei, was like a blond-haired Kushina, though she had red streaks in her hair, and had some trouble with chakra control that her twin seemed to lack. These two were ten.

Then came Kenji, their only non-twin. It was a relief to his wife, who had had two sets of twins. Kenji had his father's blond hair, his grandfather's eyes, as Kushina's father had had gray eyes, and his mother's face shape. He was another prodigy child, and didn't really respect Naruto because he didn't try very hard in school. Kenji was eight.

They had had twins yet _again_ after Kenji was born in the form of two red-haired children, both with gray eyes. They were identical and yet completely different. Tama, the girl, was loud and loved ramen, like her mother in one area and her father in another, and Raidon was quieter, but loved sushi like his mother did. The two of them were six.

Finally, they'd managed to not have twins for the last time. She'd been quite the surprise to both of them. Four boys and five girls. Minato and Kushina had really planned on stopping at eight kids, but then little Kagami was born. She had red-blond hair and golden eyes. Minato just smiled when he saw her coloring, and replied to Kushina's questions with a simple producing of a picture of his parents, in which he pointed out his father's golden eyes and mother's red-blond hair. Kushina had softened then and named the baby after Minato's mother, dead before Minato ever knew her.

Minato loved his family dearly, apparent in how he looked at them. They all loved each other and none of them could understand what had made the twins, normally completely different, act like brother and sister, and pass out with chakra exhaustion.

"Minato, they won't wake for awhile," said Tsunade "You should" she was cut off when eyes colder than glaciers met hers, their cold hard expression completely cutting off her train of thought.

"I will _not_ leave my son and daughter in here alone," Minato said firmly "I know I hate hospitals but I don't really care if it's for family. Kagami-chan?" he turned to his daughter at the tug on his sleeve.

"Otou-san, are Naruto-nii and Kyoko-nee ok?" asked Kagami cutely, her golden eyes meeting Minato's blue gaze. He knew no one but his children who could produce a cute look like that.

'_She's five, I have to reassure her somehow,'_ thought the kage, and he smiled down at his youngest, saying "They're ok Kagami-chan, just tired. They need rest and Naruto's been hurt, and since they're twins, Kyoko and Naruto share wounds when it's in their head," he explained to her, getting a nod out of her.

"Is that like 'Rashi-nii and Keimei-nee?" asked Kagami with a smile and Minato nodded, indicating to her that their bond was similar, if not the same.

Kushina looked over at him "Minato-kun, are you ok?" she was worried, naturally, because he had a tendency to work himself up over these issues.

Minato looked at their beds before holding out his right hand toward Kyoko's bed and his left to Naruto's "I feel like I'm the one that should be in the bed…" _'W-What's going on?'_ he couldn't move. Minato was unable to lower his arms.

"Minato-kun?" Kushina questioned "You ok?"

"I-I can't move!" Minato cried, shocked. His arms would not move down, and it was as if someone was controlling him "I know it's not a Nara or an assassin, but I can't control my body!" he was beginning to feel a bit worried.

A golden flash lit up the room with a brilliant light and an ethereal spirit appeared with a soul in his arms. He had a white coat on like Minato's and he looked almost like Minato, only the white wings extending from his back obviously meant he was different.

"I apologize," the man said "I hadn't realized you were in the hospital room, Minato-san. I am only here temporarily, but this is a gift I believe your son has earned," he said softly, holding up the white light that represented Naruto's soul "Remember well, the Destined Child is here," he said softly, and walked over to Naruto's bed with the soul in his hands.

Minato tried to move and to his surprise he moved in unison with the angel "What's going on?" _'Why is my body doing this?'_

"I'm sorry," the man whispered, looking at Minato "I should never have given my soul for that sacrifice, and here I can correct it. I will. I promise," with that he brought up the white orb and pressed it into Naruto's chest. The Yondaime found his body no longer under this other's control and began to open his mouth to question the gesture, but then the man held up a sword, and gently opened Naruto's right hand, before drawing a seal in blood.

"What are you doing?" demanded the Hokage, his eyes narrowed _'he could mean to harm him…'_

"This is his, rightfully so," the man said softly "As is the love of a father, the love of a mother, the love of a family. So much was lost, I can't let it happen again. Naruto, remember what I have given you." After sealing the sword into Naruto's hand, he bared his arm and marked another seal. Minato found himself motionless again, unable to do anything except watch.

They were containment seals but extremely sophisticated. There was a hint of otherworldly chakra as the man said softly "I'm sorry Naruto. I know it can't make up for what I've done, but nothing can. A man is not supposed to seal a demon into his own child. A man is not supposed to die and leave his child to a village that treats his child like the demon he contains." The man pressed a scroll into Naruto's hand with an odd symbol on it "Use it, Naruto. And remember, I will always be with you, if not physically then in spirit," the angel then flickered, becoming ethereal as he looked Minato in the eyes.

The Yondaime stared into eyes full of guilt, pain, self-hatred and sorrow. They were far older than any eyes he'd ever seen. He dared to ask "What got you those eyes?"

The man shook his head with a bitter laugh "This is for you, but only should you find yourself ultimately unable to match your enemies," he handed Minato a scroll "There is something in there that will prove that I am who I say I am. I can't tell you everything, but there is a letter in there that will make everything clear and it will only open if you need it," the man closed his eyes "I hope you never do."

'_Why?'_ the kage voiced his question and the man shook his head sadly "that question will be answered in the letter. Suffice to say I am closer to you than you believe. Before you ask, my name is not Kayaku. I am not Kayaku Namikaze. I have been called such on occasion before, but that is not my real name. For now…" he sighed "I won't be here much longer." He turned to Naruto and a tear fell down his cheek, followed by far more "I know you told me to stop crying Naruto, but this once I can't. I put that in the seal for a reason." He said softly, just barely loud enough that Minato, straining to hear him, caught the words.

'_What is he talking about?'_ Minato wondered, and then the angel leaned down and kissed Naruto's forehead "I am still here, Naruto, and I always will be," he whispered softly, and with a last ruffle of Naruto's hair turned to Minato "I apologize for the interruption, Minato-san, but this had to be done." The man swallowed visibly "I can't help Kyoko, because only Naruto can through their bond, but I can say that she will be better when Naruto is. Goodbye," he said softly, and faded away on the wind, a shower of golden light falling onto Naruto's body as he did so.

Minato turned to stare at the scroll in his hand. It was almost as if he had written out the seal, but it couldn't be. That man wasn't him! He turned to Kushina, whose mouth was open in shock, and saw that everyone around the bed was also motionless, staring in shock at Naruto and Kyoko.

Minato finally managed to voice what he was thinking "Was that…an angel?"

Kushina nodded slowly "I think it was one of the Greater Angels, the ones that are direct servants of Kami. He seemed familiar though…"

Minato remembered the piercing blue gaze the man possessed and decided to keep their similarities to himself. It wouldn't do to scare his wife and children with the knowledge. Instead he turned back to his unconscious twin children, hoping that they would awaken soon and the answers would come along with their waking.

His family turned to watch the unconscious twins as well, all of them hoping beyond hope that they would wake. He thought _'This will be a long wait, won't it Naruto, Kyoko? I have a feeling something bigger is going on here…'_

—

AND CUT! That's the prologue for you. Let me know what you think in reviews!


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